Usns Gordon Good To Go

Ship Christened In Honor Of Hero

July 05, 1996|By L.A. FINNERAN Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS — The fireworks came early Thursday at Newport News Shipbuilding.

Moments after Carmen Gordon shattered a champagne bottle on the side of the Navy's newest Sealift ship - officially giving her husband's name to the vessel - the morning sky over the James River filled with smoke and sparks.

It capped a cool and sunny ceremony filled with flags, patriotic music, words of praise and tears.

Gordon's husband, Army Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon, died in Somalia while saving a downed helicopter pilot in 1993. His widow lives in North Carolina with their two children.

"This ship gives us faith that Gary's spirit will go forward," Carmen Gordon said to the crowd of about 6,000 that gathered along the pier to watch the ceremony.

Yard President William P. Fricks called Gordon, a Maine native, "a real American hero."

Thursday's naming ceremony comes nearly three years after the yard began work to convert the Jutlandia, a 20-year-old container vessel, into a cargo carrier for the Military Sealift Command.

As part of the conversion the yard replaced 8,000 tons of steel on the aging vessel and put an additional 9,000 tons of steel, company executives said. The project included adding a roll-on, roll-off loading system that includes eight decks and two side ports; installing two 110-ton cranes and upgrading machinery.

"Thanks to Newport News Shipbuilding, behind me you see a very impressive ship," said Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, Army chief of staff. "Thanks to Newport News Shipbuilding."